Ghost of the Forgotten King

I was hoping to get one more full session in from the modified 3E D&D adventure Barrow of the Forgotten King I was running for my Swords & Wizardry campaign. But it did not happen. The players rushed through the remaining part of the tomb. They almost missed fighting the Betrayer or picking up the big magical treasure at the end. They had become so on point with their intention not to rob the tomb they almost missed out. The Forgotten King practically had to throw his sword to them before they sprinted out of his tomb.

Thankfully I anticipated this and had a short encounter written up to cover the remainder of the session. This was an original encounter I wrote up the day of the session - Zarin's Tower.

Session 75: Barrow of the Forgotten King part 3

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Aashdoshan (human necromancer), Alonso (human fighter), Lantosh (human fighter NPC), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC), Domago (human cleric NPC), and Vervork (human fighter NPC).

After the encounter with the Tomb Spider, (in the previous session) the adventurers rest for a few moments. Aashdoshan produces three potions of healing and one each is given to Alonso, Eathwund, and Vervork. Now that the fighters are feeling a little better, they decide to move on. Vervork keeping a close eye on their wounded prisoner Leera.

Lakima sends the Glow Minion forward down some wide steps and it triggers an illusion. A scene plays out in which a man raises his sword as if to signal an attack. Soon the illusion vanishes. Lakima asks Leera about the illusion and she shrugs. The stairs lead down to a platform between several chambers. Stairs lead down into each chamber. In the chambers, they see several upright stone sarcophagi. Fenris checks them and tells everyone that the sarcophagi lids are carved to represent trapped men. Red rubies are set in the carved eye sockets. Before Fenris can pry one out, Lakima stops him. Telling the thief that avoiding robbery so far in the tomb has allowed them to bypass some of the defenses. They pass down another set of wide steps and see a second illusion. The man appears again, this time leading a goblin army against a human king. The two leaders meet and fight until both are killed. Leera says that this is a representation of the Forgotten King fighting the Betrayer. Lakima asks why this would be the illusion in the Forgotten King’s tomb but Leera has no answer.

The path leads down a few more passages and then into one end of a very large chamber. In the distance, they see a circle of blue light. In the center of the circle kneels a fighter clutching a longsword. Near the fighter is an overturned chest with gold coins spilling out from it. Before anyone can advance, Lakima warns that this looks like a trap. He sends the Glow Minion deeper into the chamber. The light from the phantasm illuminates an empty throne against the far wall of the chamber past the circle of blue light. Before the throne, gold coins scattered on the floor reflect the light. As there does not appear to be any other exits from the chamber, Lakima uses his Wand of Secret Door detection to spot two doors on the north wall of the chamber at either end. He uses the Arrow of Direction and asks where the tomb robbers went and it points north. By this time almost the entire party has entered the chamber (Aashdoshan holds back in the darkness) and viewed the strange scene. Lakima points at the secret door to the north and finds the lever to open it. He tells everyone, “This is the way, north!”

 Vervork calls out, “Wait!”. When asked why he says that he thinks the unmoving figure in the chamber is his ancestor Valdemar. He wants to investigate (yes the DM used an NPC to push the party into a fight). Lakima resignedly tells him to check. As Vervork nears the figure it becomes clear that it is the skeletal remains of a man. The skeleton holds a glowing sword that is thrust into a crack in the stone floor. As Vervork nears the skeleton, a ghostly human form materializes on the throne. The figure calls out, “Who would disturb the rest of the King!” Vervork responds to the challenge, trying to explain who he is and why he has come. The ghost will have none of it, accuses Vervork of being a tomb robber, and threatens to kill him.

Vervork stumbles back to the rest of the group but the ghost does not follow him. Lakima surmises that the ghost is held back by the sword. He tells Eathwund to go collect the sword. Eathwund advances and pulls the sword out of the skeleton’s hands carefully. He hefts the glowing sword and backs away slowly. As he backs away the ghost follows him, just on the edge of the blue light cast by the sword. The entire group moves through the secret door. But Fenris calls out that the ghost is ahead of them and waiting in the next chamber. They head back to the large chamber and the ghost arrives back at the throne again.

Lakima tells Eathwund he has an idea and asks Eathwund to return the sword to the skeleton. Then he casts Animate Dead and directs the skeleton to attack the ghost. The skeleton moves forward and the light falls on the ghost pushing it back until it has no place to go. It then cries out and its appearance changes to that of a horrible barrow wight. Its gaze falls across all of the adventurers in the chamber. Aashdoshan, Vervork, and Lantosh are struck with temporary insanity and fall gibbering to the floor. Lakima yells for everyone else to attack. Alonso and Eathwund attack with their swords. Eathwund lighting his sword on fire to burn the wight for more damage. The wight reaches out and strikes the skeleton but its draining ability does not work on the soulless skeleton. Lakima strikes the wight with the Staff of Striking and Alonso and Eathwund finish it off. Once the wight falls, the adventurers stricken with insanity recover.

Lakima lets the skeleton collapse. Vervork looks over the skeleton and tells them that he believes it is the remains of his ancestor Valdemar. He takes the family sword from its grasp. Looking over the bags of gold scattered about, Lakima hands the Bag of Holding to Fenris and tells him to scoop it up. “We no longer have to fear any curses.”

The adventurers head north through the second secret door from the chamber. It leads to the same room they saw before. A wide stair leads north. The room shows more signs of having been ransacked by the tomb robbers who are apparently still ahead of them. Four skeletons lie on the floor. Aashdoshan calls for a brief halt while he animates the skeletons as minions.

Fenris leads the way up the stairs which enter a large dome-ceilinged room. Many stone pillars hold up the dome. Sunlight streams down from a hole in the center of the dome shining onto a raised tomb in the middle of the floor. The sunlight appears to form a curtain of light around the tomb. Lakima quickly realizes that it cannot be sunlight because he calculates that the sun should have gone down by now. A glow of gold can be seen from a tomb in the center of the raised dais. In the center of the dais is a gold-lined depression in which lies a body. Lakima looks around but sees no one and no exits – and yet the tomb robbers could not be far ahead of them.

As the glow minion steps further into the chamber casting light into the darker corners, a pair of tomb robbers step out from behind stone pillars. The hobgoblin shaman Krootad and his master the man Leera called Xeron.

“Stop there! That is far enough,” Xeron calls out, “Perhaps we can parlay and make a deal?”

Lakima suggests that if the tomb robbers leave now, perhaps they will not be killed. Xeron laughs at his threats. He requests only that one of the adventurers reach into the tomb, remove the sword found there, and hand it over to the tomb robbers. While Lakima and Xeron talk, Fenris slips into the shadows and begins to sneak his way quietly along the wall to maneuver behind Xeron. Before Fenris can get into position, a fight breaks out.

Krootad illuminates Alonso with faeire fire. Alonso, Vervork, and Lantosh rush across the chamber toward the hobgoblin to attack. Meanwhile, Eathwund rushes toward Xeron. Before he can reach him, Xeron changes form into a gigantic thirty-foot-long snake. Fenris, who was about to stab Xeron in the back, turns to run but is struck by a tail whip from the snake and is crushed into the stone wall. The snake lunges at Eathwund and bites him. Eathwund manages to push the snake off before it can inject any venom. Nearby, Lakima uses magic to summon two elvish archers. The elves look briefly confused, but once Lakima yells for them to attack the snake, they pull out longbows and begin firing arrows at the snake. The giant snake bites Eathwund again and this time manages to inject poison into him. Eathwund collapses to the stone floor and blacks out.

Lantosh and Alonso fight the hobgoblin shaman and strike it several times. But the hobgoblin pulls out a flask containing a healing potion and drinks it regaining its health. Vervork sees Eathwund and Fenris in danger and he changes direction and charges at the giant snake. He is unable to hit the snake, but it distracts it long enough for Domago to cast neutralize poison on Eathwund. Aashdoshan arrives as well and cuts his wrist to allow some of his life energy to pour into Eathwund, reviving the fighter. Aashdoshan’s skeleton minions protect their master while he does this. Aashdoshan then sends two skeletons to help Alonso with the hobgoblin shaman. Eathwund gets his revenge on the giant snake finally cutting it down. But as the snake falls, Xeron rises up in its place. Eathwund sees that Xeron actually is not a man, but some sort of reptilian creature with scaled skin and the head of the giant snake. Eathwund and Vervork strike Xeron and the creature fights back with its staff. Just before it appears ready to fall it hisses, “curse you” and then leaps at Domago and bites the cleric on the wrist, pumping venom into him. Eathwund strikes Xeron down.

On the other side of the chamber, Krootad the hobgoblin shaman continues to fight off Alonso and Lantosh. Seeing Xeron fall, the hobgoblin yells a battle cry and attacks with renewed vigor. He strikes down three of Aashdoshan’s skeletons and tries to make a run for it. Alonso strikes him as he runs but Krootad manages to grab hold of Lakima and use him as a human shield, “back off or the Wizard dies!” he yells. Lakima yells for the elves to attack and burns Krootad with his acid finger spell. The hobgoblin tries to make it to the exit but he falls dead in a heap.

Everyone pauses to take stock. Eathwund tells Domago that he should cast neutralize poison on himself but Domago states that he feels fine. Lakima yells at Domago to do it anyway. When the cleric uses the spell, he begins to feel nauseous and throws up lumpy green bile from his stomach. Eathwund burns the muck with his flaming sword. Eathwund searches the corpse of Xeron and finds a backpack full of treasure and Valdemar’s journal that was stolen from Vervork’s family.

Fenris has by now made it to the tomb and tells everyone that the coffin is lined with gold plates. Lakima admonishes him not to rob the tomb. As he says that a ghostly figure of an ancient king appears before them in the chamber.

“I am King Theron, thank you for protecting my rest”.

Lakima asks the ghosts for a quick way out of the tomb. The ghost gestures at the ceiling, “you must climb out through the light to reach the outside”. Lakima tells Fenris to climb up to the exit and toss down a rope. As they start making preparations to leave, the ghost speaks again, “Take Merthuvial, I have no use for it in the Lands of the Dead.” Alonso does not need any more urging. He reaches into the tomb and picks up the longsword lying there. The ghost asks if the people of the lands still remember his deeds. Lakima makes a statement about making sure they will. The ghost nods and watches them go. Aashdoshan is the last to leave the chamber. He needs help getting up the rope and he pulls his last skeleton up behind him. As he takes a last look down the ghost says to him, “Do not let those items control you, make a wise choice.” And then it is gone.

The adventurers climb one by one through the glowing sunlight exit and enter a small stone chamber. Fenris has already found and opened a door in the chamber side. It leads out onto a hill. They have exited under the statue of the Forgotten King beside the river in the village of Hookhollow. The group set out following Vervork toward the Keep. Almost immediately shocked citizens scream and close doors and shutter windows. The adventurers look about trying to figure out what is causing the commotion until Domago tells them it is Aashdoshan’s animated skeleton. Aashdoshan reluctantly lets the skeleton fall into a heap beside the road.

Back at the Keep, Vervork’s brother Lord Roland warmly greets them. They cured his son not two days before and now they have put an end to the curse on the family. After a good night’s sleep, everyone meets in the High Hall for breakfast. Vervork tells his companions that he has agreed to his brother's request to stay and help run the fief at least until his nephew is a little older. Lakima tells him he can call on the Company for aid at any time. Alonso talks to Roland about his desire to join the nobility. Roland tells him he would be happy to take him on as a knight. But once he outlines the duties it brings, Alonso decides not to make this choice for now. The Company remains in Hauger Keep for several days while everyone recovers from the fighting. Eventually, they say their goodbyes to Vervork and set out on foot for the Hillside Villages where they hope to catch a riverboat north.

The company makes it on foot to the village of Tahn. As it is late in the day, they get rooms at the Goose and Feather Inn. The next morning, they are able to book passage on a small riverboat headed north to Edgerton. The boat is owned by Lennox and his son Tern. They set out north. A few hours later they see a crowd on the eastern bank of the river. Travelers on the road to Edgerton have stopped near an excavation. Even a pair of riverboats have stopped here. They see a new excavation in the side of a hill that has uncovered an ancient-looking large stone obelisk. What is more amazing is that from the river they can see a pair of people floating in the air above the obelisk. Below them, three tents have been set up. Lakima asks Lennox if he will stop so they can find out what is causing this. Lennox happily agrees, “this wasn’t here when I passed a few days ago, I want to find out what’s going on.”

The company disembark and head toward the obelisk. They see that it is walled off by some simple cloth barriers. A busker seeing them walk up launches into his sales pitch, “Come one, come all to Zarin’s Tower of Wonder! See the rune of ancient magic, fly like a bird and escape the bonds of the earth! It is all guaranteed to be a completely safe and wondrous experience. For only 1 silver coin amaze your friends!”

Lakima goes over and purchases a ticket. He walks up and examines the obelisk which is carved with deeply cut runes which he does not recognize. A busker tells him he need only touch a specific rune (which is pointed out to him) and he will fly up into the sky. Lakima ignores the busker and casts Detect Magic. He sees immediately that the runes are a permanent magic spell. A pair of runes show particular power. But he is unable to discern the purpose. Lakima heads back to the main tent and demands to speak with whoever is in charge. The rest of the company fan out amongst the crowd and take in the spectacle. A dwarf named Oren who sold Lakima the ticket calls for the owner. A dwarf named Zarin comes out from inside the main tent and speaks with Lakima. Lakima angrily tells Zarin that he has no right to be fooling with magic he does not understand. Zarin is indignant and tells Lakima that it is all duly registered in Dolmvay. He is the owner of the land and the obelisk that he recently found. Lakima then offers to pay for the ownership of the obelisk But Lakima only offers 1,000 gold and Zarin scoffs at the offer, stating that he can make that much in a month. Lakima walks away.

Lakima gathers the company together and tells them he would like to investigate further. Since Lakima was the only one in a hurry to get back to Edgerton, the rest agree. They pay Lennox to stay the night covering any penalties he might receive for being late to Edgerton. The company set up tents in a nearby field. As the sun goes down, the stream of visitors to the obelisk comes to an end.

Early the next morning, all of the members of the Company buy tickets to view the obelisk. The dwarves running the show sell them with a quizzical look. Lakima casts Comprehend languages and finds he can read the obelisk runes. Many of the runes just detail the history of the town of Jenkel and some local battle that was fought. But one rune indicates a portal and another indicates levitation magic. Alonso touches the rune for the portal and a doorway opens in the side of the obelisk. Alonso goes to step inside but then notes that there is no floor. Only a drop down into darkness. Alonso asks for a rope but then Fenris suggests they just use the levitation rune on the side of the obelisk. One by one the adventurers tap the rune and float down inside the obelisk. As they begin to disappear one of the dwarves runs up and yells at them to come back. They ignore him.

The heroes float down into the darkness. After about twenty feet they see a reddish glow at the bottom of the shaft. After sixty feet they come to a solid floor. A doorway leads out into a large cavern. The ruins of ancient buildings lie buried in dirt and rock. Nearby they see an open fissure full of brightly glowing magma.

Barrow of the Forgotten King 2

Last week in the Swords & Wizardry campaign the players continued through the Barrow of the Forgotten King adventure. As usual, the players went through it a little quicker than expected. But it does appear I will get almost 3 sessions out of the adventure. We had a new player join and he played one of the NPCs. We made this decision since explaining the presence of the new adventurer so deep into a rarely explored dungeon would not make a lot of sense.

Session 74: Barrow of the Forgotten King part 2

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Aashdoshan (human necromancer), Alonso (human fighter), Lantosh (human fighter NPC), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC), Domago (human cleric), and Vervork (human fighter).

After their battle with the skeletons, the heroes discuss resting. Fenris in particular is laboring, clutching an open wound in his side. Looking about at the chamber strewn with more than a dozen skeletons they decide to push on. But first Domago prays for healing for Fenris and Alonso. After the healing, Fenris tells them he can go on.

Fenris lets them know that the exit from the chamber is a rough slide that descends at a steep angle. He scouts ahead with Lakima’s Glow Minion in the lead. They find a large cavern filled with water. The other adventurers make it down the slide one at a time using a rope. At the bottom of the slide, they stand on a ledge forty feet above a flooded cavern floor. Fifteen feet away they can see a pillar of stone rising up out of the water to about their height. A hemp rope stretches from the ledge to the pillar. Fenris checks the rope and tells them that it is new and sturdy. The Glow Minion and Fenris make their way across to the rock pillar. Fenris shouts back that there is another pillar twenty feet further away in the cavern but fifteen feet lower than the first one. Another rope is found that connects them.

The rest of the delvers begin to make their way to the first pillar. Not having the agility of Fenris they string two more ropes across to make it easier. First Lakima, then Eathwund, and Alonso cross successfully. To make room, the Glow minion and Fenris move down to the second pillar. Vervork makes it across to the first pillar and is followed by Aashdoshan. But halfway across Aashdoshan loses his grip and plummets into the water far below. They hear a splash and then some sputtering. Alonso pulls up some of the loose rope and tosses it down to where he can hear Aashdoshan splashing about. Aashdoshan calls back up that he is not going to be able to climb up the rope so Alonso tells him to hold on and he will pull him up.

As Alonso works on pulling up Aashdoshan, Fenris spots a large dark shape out of the corner of his eye. Spinning about he ducks and yells as he sees an enormous black, leathery shape glide down from the darkness overhead headed for him. The creature looks like an enormous black leathery kite. Seeing the danger, Lakima casts Lightning Bolt striking the creature. It veers off from attacking Fenris and tries to get away, Eathwund fires two arrows into it from his longbow. As it glides by the first pillar, it is hit by more missiles and crashes into the water far below. Fenris calls back that he is okay. He also yells that there is another rope but it is cut. He can just make out a ledge twenty feet away and fifteen feet down just above the level of the water. He suggests that he climb down and swim across, but Lakima tells him that they do not know what might be in the water. Lantosh and Domago are still back at the first ledge so they begin to move across. Domago loses his grip and falls into the water. His heavy armor immediately drags him under and he drifts down in pitch darkness. Domago remembers the Book of Protection from Drowning and he casts a charge to get water breathing. The spell is successful and he finds he can breathe underwater as he drifts down to the floor of the cavern in complete darkness. He hears a splash and a rope with a rock tied to the end drifts down to him. Alonso, and Vervork drag Domago out of the water and up the side of the pillar. Now that everyone is exhausted Lakima advocates that they rest so he can recover spells including Luminous bridge.

The party decides to rest. The Glow Minion, Eathwund, and Fenris are on the second pillar and the rest on the first pillar. Shortly after they settle down to rest, Lakima and Lantosh who are on the first watch hear someone making their way down the slide from the chambers above. Lakima quickly wakes the rest of the adventurers on the first pillar. He moves right to the edge of the pillar and extends his glowing staff so that he can just make out the ledge and the tunnel entrance. For a few seconds, he sees a humanoid shape in the darkness of the doorway. He shouts out a challenge, and the shape vanishes. They hear the sound of someone going back up the slide. They are not disturbed for the remainder of their rest.

After several hours of rest, the group is ready to move on. Lakima casts Luminous bridge all of the ways from the first pillar to the ledge on the far side of the cavern. They make their way down the bridge to an archway in the side of the cavern. A man-made tunnel extends away into the darkness. This tunnel soon enters into a maze of stone corridors only five feet wide.

Lakima again summons the Glow Minion and he sends it and Fenris into this crude, stone maze with Alonso close behind. They encounter a few dead ends. Alonso checks down one passage and triggers a magical trap. A Manticore is summoned and appears almost right on top of Eathwund. The Manticore appears confused by its surroundings and Alonso and Eathwund manage to strike it before it can react. But once it gets its bearings it leaps upon Alonso clawing him once. Working together, Alonso, Eathwund, and Lantosh do most of the damage to the Manticore with Lakima supporting by throwing darts at it. The creature falls dead and Lakima retrieves his darts. Lakima uses the Wand of Secret Door detection but does not find any. Then he uses the Arrow of Direction to ask for the quickest way out. They try to move in the direction the arrow indicated but the halls do not always allow movement in that direction. A second magical summoning trap is triggered and this time they fight off a Sabre-tooth tiger. The creature is killed when Lantosh smashes in its skull with his ax. Alonso asks if there is time to remove a tusk but the rest of the group tells him they need to move on.

They consult the Arrow of Direction again and arrive in a large cavern flooded with water. On the other side, forty feet away they see a continuation of the maze. With no clear way across they follow the “shore” around to the north where the distance to cross is short. Fenris scales across by climbing up the wall of the cavern. At that moment they hear a distant rumbling sound and a high wave of water runs up the cavern drowning the area above water. The water soon recedes without harming anyone but in its wake, they see a weed-covered mummy stagger up out of the water. The mummy makes its way toward Lakima’s glowing staff and is fought off by Alonso. Domago tries rebuking it with his holy symbol and Aashdoshan tries dominating it but both fail. Eathwund and Alonso manage to chop it down and it sinks under the water. Fenris briefly considers swimming after it to see if it had any treasure.

Before going forward, Domago prays to St. Aleena to allow him to detect traps. Domago now takes the lead of the group with the Glow Minion. As they make their way, he spots the outline of a pit trap on the floor of the tunnel as it enters a room. Eathwund and Alonso leap over the pit and are attacked by two animated statues. Eathwund switches weapons to a hammer to help smash the statues into pieces. After the statues are dealt with, they see another, pit trap that has already been triggered. Fenris steps to the edge and looks down and tells everyone there is a human corpse in the bottom of the pit. He climbs down to investigate. As Fenris moves to check the pockets of the body in the pit, it is revealed to be a woman who is badly injured but still alive. She grabs Fenris by surprise and tries to bargain for food and water. Fenris manages to struggle free (and out of the pit) after giving her his waterskin. The woman, who tells them her name is Leera, admits to being one of the tomb robbers but claims she had nothing to do with the poisoning of Vervork’s nephew. She names the other members of the tomb robbers including the leader Xeron. She asks to be pulled up and set free.

Lakima asks Vervork what he wants to do with Leera. Vervork responds with. “Let her rot here in the pit.” Domago immediately objects and argues that they should take her into custody. Eventually, Domago manages to convince Eathwund and Lantosh as well. It is put to a vote and they decide to haul her up but bind her hands behind her back. Vervork says he will stay close to her and watch her. While the discussion about Leera was ongoing, Fenris scouted ahead. He returns now and tells them that there is a makeshift barrier ahead with several hobgoblins behind it. The Glow Minion is sent ahead to illuminate the area. The hobgoblins react excitedly to this and call up more reinforcements. Lakima peaks around the corner and then hurls a fireball just past their barrier. There is a loud explosion and the walls of the dungeon shake for a moment. When Fenris scouts ahead again he reports six dead hobgoblins. The group proceeds into what is clearly a camp the hobgoblins have set up. The stone lids of a pair of sarcophagi have been broken and used to create barriers at both exits of a pair of chambers. From the far exit, they can hear the sound of a waterfall. In the camp they find a backpack holding some treasure and they find a magical brazier. Leera tells them that one of the hobgoblins is their leader. But she does not see the thief Teryl, the hobgoblin shaman Krootad, or their “human” leader Xeron.

The exit from the hobgoblin camp leads to a large cavern. A stream of water enters from one corner and falls forty feet down to the floor. The exit leads out onto a ledge, thirty feet above the water. The ledge appears to lead around behind the fall of water. Lying on the ledge they find a dead hobgoblin with no marks of violence on his body. Just as Fenris moves forward to the waterfall the adventurers hear a loud voice call out, “So many visitors in recent days. Tell me, why came you here?”

Lakima immediately calls out that they are chasing tomb robbers who murdered the brother of one of the members of the group. A creature of water and mist emerges from the waterfalls. It is very large being about the size of a hill giant. The creature examines them for a moment and then tells them that they may pass. The adventurers quickly make their way around behind the waterfall and out of the cavern as the ledge leads to a stone passage. That passage ends in a stone door that is slightly ajar. Fenris checks the door and declares it safe, so Eathwund and Alonso take the lead and shove the door open.

The door opens into a room with a stone-tiled floor which is unlike any other area of the dungeon so far. The walls are covered in thick spiderwebs that undulate and drift in the breeze. The webs reach all the way up one side of the chamber. In the center of the chamber is a web-covered statue of a king on a throne. Lakima asks Leera to look at the statue and she tells them the story of the Forgotten King and the Betrayer. Eathwund and Alonso move up to the statue and as they near it a mummy, covered in webs, emerges from its shadow. As it moves to attack Alonso, hordes of fist-sized spiders emerge from the webs and swarm all of the heroes in the chamber. Alonso, Eathwund, Lantosh, Vervork, and Domago all find themselves stepping on and knocking off spiders. The mummy strikes Alonso twice but only raises some nasty bruises. They do manage to destroy the creature but as it falls, another horde of spiders erupts from its body. Now hundreds of spiders spread across the floor of the chamber. Lakima summons a skeleton and sends it forward to stomp on spiders to help Eathwund, Alonso, and Lantosh. After several tense minutes of stomping, they eventually squish everything that moves in the chamber. Looking about they see a web-shrouded set of stone steps leading up to a balcony.

Fenris leads the way up the steps followed by the fighters. The steps lead to a chamber that overhangs the area below. Again, the walls are covered in webs. Three large web sacks hang down from the ceiling. Just as Fenris moves forward into the chamber, an enormous spider drops out of the webs covering the ceiling. The spider has long legs and is about the size of a horse. Its coloring matches that of the webs. Eathwund and Alonso move to attack and Lakima hurls darts past them at the spider. The tomb spider leaps at Alonso and attempts to get a poisonous bite past his armor but it fails. Eathwund and then Alonso each strike it in the abdomen with their swords and kill the creature. Fenris enters the chamber again and cuts open the web sacks. Two contain dead hobgoblins but the third holds the body of a dead halfling. Leera identifies the body as her friend Teryl. The trap finder for the tomb robbers. Helpfully she points out to Fenris that Teryl wears magical leather armor. Fenris strips the corpse and also finds a sack of treasure.

The group decides they need to rest again but first they move into the next chamber which is not covered in spider webs.

Barrow of the Forgotten King

In the last few sessions of my Swords & Wizardry campaign, the players have been delving their way through the Barrow of the Forgotten King. This is based fairly closely on the D&D 3.5 edition of the adventure of the same name. Of course, I had to make a number of changes because it was written for the 3.5 edition of D&D and for much lower character levels (2nd level). I also created all-new maps more suited for online play.

The Barrow of the Forgotten King is considered one of the classics, but it has a very peculiar layout. The entire adventure is presented in a summary format and then each "tactical encounter" is presented at the back of the product in a 2-3 page detailed layout with detailed maps that assume miniatures are going to be used. I found it very annoying when I was rewriting the adventure for my own use (in a more traditional linear format). I cannot imagine trying to run this as is straight from the published product. I believe this was the first and last time this format was used.

Session 73: Barrow of the Forgotten King

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Aashdoshan (human necromancer), Alonso (human fighter), Lantosh (human fighter NPC), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC), Domago (human cleric), and Vervork (human fighter).

The adventurers have arrived at Hauger Keep in Hookhollow, the home of their fellow adventurer Vervork. They spend the night in the keep.

The next morning the adventurers meet with Lord Roland and Vervork. Lakima asks if they can all see Roland’s son Vilhelm. He is reluctant as his son is near death but once Lakima tells him that he believes they might have a cure, he insists they immediately go to his son. Lakima, Domago, and Aashdoshan go to see Vilhelm. The boy is unconscious in bed with his mother Yelda at his side. A local priest greets them at the door. Lakima checks the boy and then pours a neutralize poison potion down his throat. After a few moments color begins to return to the boy’s face and then his eyes flicker open. The boy calls out for his mother. Roland thanks Lakima effusively as does Yelda. Within an hour Vilhelm is sitting up in bed and eating soup. Soon he asks if he can go outside to ride his horse. But his mother and the priest will have none of that.

The full group meets with Roland in the Great Hall of the Keep again. Lakima tells Vervork and Roland that he believes tomb robbers are the ones who poisoned Vilhelm to get their hands on Valdemar’s Journal. This would allow them to find their way through the traps beneath the Forgotten King’s barrow. Vervork says he wants to leave immediately to track down and kill the people who killed his brother Yandel. Roland tries to counsel against this.

There is little chance of any other decision. Vervork will join the Company of the Black Dragon on the trail of the mysterious tomb robbers. Vervork takes them to the west tower of the keep and points out the low mounds barely a mile to the west. He explains that there are four mounds. Traditionally called the King, Queen, Prince, and Cleft barrows. The names were applied long after the barrows were abandoned. He is not sure which one is the Barrow of the forgotten King but they will know they are in the correct one if they find a large mausoleum. The entrance to the Forgotten King’s barrow was used as a crypt by the village of Hookhollow before his ancestor Valdemar found a way past the something he called the Beholder puzzle in his journal. He does not know the details of the puzzle. After Valdemar’s child died because of the Curse the villagers stopped using the crypt.

Since the barrows are so near the company of eight men set out over the fields on foot. Arriving at the barrows Fenris scouts ahead and notes many tracks but Vervork tells him it is probably from the men who found and brought back the body of his older brother Yandel. Lakima points at the Prince’s Barrow and suggests they start the search with that one. A narrow tunnel into the barrow leads to stone steps down into a crypt. Vervork immediately recognizes that they have entered the old mausoleum. They have found the correct barrow on the first try.

In the first chamber, they see a crumbling room. Four skeletons lie out on stone biers. Lying in the center of the room lies a human corpse. As everyone slowly advances, Fenris checks the corpse. It is that of a young woman warrior clad in leather armor, a sword sheathed at her side. She has two arrows in her chest. Aashdoshan looks at the four skeletons and reaches out with his necromantic powers to raise them. But he immediately realizes they have already been raised. Aashdoshan shouts a warning just as the four skeletons begin to rise from the platforms. Lantosh is caught by surprise and struck with a rusty blade. Aashdoshan quickly wrests control of the skeletons from whoever else raised them. The four skeletons are now dominated by Aashdoshan. Fenris continues checking the warrior’s corpse and finds a silver badge of crossed arrows. The symbol means nothing to any of the adventurers, but Lakima muses that she might be a ranger.

Fenris advances into the chamber with Lantosh a short distance behind to provide light from his lantern. The chamber is L-Shaped, and as Fenris turns the corner, he spots five more skeletons. He backs away as Lantosh, Alonso, Vervork, and Eathwund move in to take care of the skeletons. Lakima casts Glow Minion and summons a servant of Light to help illuminate the area. Both Alonso and Eathwund destroy a pair of skeletons while one of the skeletons controlled by Aashdoshan destroys the last skeleton. Aashdoshan raises two more skeletons to increase his army of the dead to six skeletons. In the fight with the skeletons, Alonso does take a nasty slash to the chest. Fenris checks some of the crypts lining the walls of the chamber and tells everyone that many of them have been broken into and looted of everything, even the bodies.

A stone door leads from the chamber. Fenris is unable to figure out how to open it as it has no handles or hinges. Vervork is able to shove it open. Beyond they see another long chamber lined with crypts. On the north wall are a fountain and the statue of an angel. A corridor leads north and a door blocks passage to the south. Eathwund manages to manhandle the door leading south open. Lakima sends the Glow Minion through the open door into a small chamber. Fenris follows and declares that there is a statue of a magic-user covered in cobwebs. There are also two stone coffins. Fenris asks some of the strong fighters to help him open the coffins. But Lakima casts Detect Magic and tells them not to enter. The statue is showing a strong magic aura. He suspects it is a protector of the crypt.

“We are here on a mission, not as tomb robbers”, states Lakima. Fenris protests a little.

The corridor leads to another blank stone door. Fenris is unable to find a means of opening it and each of the fighters is unable to budge it. Lakima casts Detect Magic and discovers the door is Wizard Locked and covered by an illusion. He tries to cast Read Magic but it fails. Aashdoshan is able to cast Read Magic and he sees the image of a beholder carved into the stone doors. Each of its eye stocks ends in a strange tile. Below the image is a riddle. Aashdoshan takes a sheet of parchment and copies out the words:

Magic Dies Fast Men Slow the passage you seek below.

Eye of death, eye of stone the key to passage they haven’t shown

Fear and mind you can say will move you around in the wrong way

Friends are shy, sleep in rest. Neither points to the passage that’s best.

Enemy friend painful wound oblivion aids it is ruined.

Lakima casts Dispel Magic and is able to remove the spell holding the door. It slides to one side. Inside they find an octagonal chamber. The floor in this chamber is covered in stone tiles. Some of these tiles have images painted on them depicting men. It matches the tiles Aashdoshan saw on the door. In the center of the chamber is a large stone eye looking at the ceiling. Lakima casts Detect Magic and sees that the tiles and the eye are all radiating magic. The eye is projecting a dispel magic field.

Lakima suggests that the tiles need to be stepped on in the proper order to open a door to continue. Vervork tells them that Valdemar’s journal mentioned the riddle of the beholder. But he has not viewed the book since he was a child and he cannot recall the solution to the riddle. Lakima asks Aashdoshan to direct one of his skeletons to step on a tile. Nothing appears to happen at first but they realize the skeleton has been slowed. Aashdoshan directs it to the central eye and the enchantment is dispelled. Another tile is found to vaporize a skeleton into ashes. All of the heroes step carefully back from the tiles.

Over the next hour, Lakima and Aashdoshan try to solve the riddle. Using the skeletons, they test many of the tiles. They find only two of the tiles they tested seem to have any effect. Fenris notices that the tiles are loose and could be moved. Lakima becomes convinced that they need to be paired and the riddle must show the order. They try some more but the death ray tile is in the first pair and two more skeletons are vaporized.

Eathwund hesitantly makes a suggestion, “Maybe they need to be put in the order on the image?” Aashdoshan tells Eathwund that they are already in that order. But when they recheck his sketch, they realize they are not in order. Lakima excitedly tells Aashdoshan to have the skeletons move the four tiles that are out of order. A skeleton easily picks up a tile and moves it. Then moves the rest. As the last tile is placed down in the order on the image, the stone eye rapidly descends revealing a shaft leading down thirty feet.

Fenris descends on a rope and yells back that it is another small chamber with an exit. The rest of the adventurers and Aashdoshan’s three remaining skeletons descend. A corridor leads down over three flights of steps. Fenris takes the lead with the Glow Minion behind him. As he reaches the third landing, he is startled to see an enormous Ogre standing mutely against a wall. The eyes of the ogre open and it moves toward him. Fenris realizes that the ogre has gaping wounds on its body. It is an enormous zombie. Yelling “Zombie!’ Fenris flees from the chamber back through the group. Alonso takes his place and holds the enormous zombie at bay with his magic spear, striking it in the chest. Eathwund joins him and lights his sword on fire, swinging it at the ogre-zombie. Lakima hurls some darts at it. The zombie swings an enormous club at Alonso and smashes the puny human fighter against the wall. Alonso struggles to his feet and attacks again. But the ogre swings the club in a huge arc once more and smashes Alonso again knocking him back several feet. Eathwund slashes the zombie again with his flaming sword and it staggers. Aashdoshan tries to use Banish undead but the creature resists him. Then he casts Magic missile from his wand. The bolts of fire blacken the creature. Eathwund strikes it a third time and a magical dagger thrown by Aashdoshan hits it in its magical source. The creature collapses in a huge mound of flesh.

The adventurers scramble over the large corpse into the next chamber. Fenris checks the exit from the chamber and reports that they have to cross a bottomless pit. As the others join him, they see that a rope bridge extends across the pit. Fenris checks it and reports that the bridge is sound. It appears to have been put up by the tomb robbers they are chasing. The Glow Minion is sent across the chasm without incident. Fenris then sprints across easily. Eathwund is about to go next but he realizes that the rope bridge is very precarious. Lakima tells him to step aside and he casts Luminous Bridge. A bridge of light extends across the chasm. Everyone crosses the bridge easily.

On the other side of the bridge, they come to a dead end. Lakima takes out his Wand of Secret Door Detection and finds a door in one wall. Fenris is able to open it. Inside is a small chamber with a stone lever in the up position. After some debate with the others, he decides to pull it. A wall slides aside revealing an enormous octagonal chamber.

The chamber has partition walls extending partway out from each wall joint. In the center of the room, they see a pair of hobgoblin corpses blackened by fire. The entire center area is covered in black ash. Fenris peers around a wall and reports there are two enormous dragon statues sitting to either side of their entrance. Their heads pointed toward the fire damage in the center of the room. Also in the room are the statue of a princess and a warrior. On the far wall is a stone door. The Glow Minion is sent into the center of the room and nothing happens. One of the skeletons is sent into the center of the room and the dragons breathe fire. The skeleton is incinerated.

Fenris climbs onto the walls and makes his way around the chamber. He examines both statues depicting humans but does not find anything. Then he makes his way to the door. It is another unmarked stone door.

A second skeleton is sent around the chamber skirting the middle of the room and ducking under a dragon skeleton. It makes it without triggering the fire trap so the rest of the team of adventurers follow its path. Eventually, they are all at the door. The fighters take turns shoving the door but they are not able to open it. Eventually, Fenris tries and he opens it easily. Beyond is a small chamber and two stone doors separated by five feet. Fenris manages to open the south door. A wave of moisture and mildew smell pours out of the opening. There is a distant sound of running water. Fenris checks and tells them it is a short hall leading to a ladder going down. Lakima suggests trying the other door.

The other door is opened and Fenris and the Glow Minion lead the way. A short hallway leads to a large room. The adventurers discover they have entered high up on a balcony overlooking a canal fifteen feet below. A bridge crosses the canal. On both sides of the canal are five stone statues of warriors. On the far side from them, they see the corpses of two hobgoblins. Also, two broken statues. Lakima tells everyone that the statues will probably animate and attack. At the far end of this balcony, he spots a stone door.

“Hurry, everyone to the door!”

They begin to move toward the door but the water in the canal erupts in a geyser. A serpent made entirely of water rises up from the canal. The head of the creature is as big as a full-grown dragon. The water weird looks at them at speaks in a strange bubbling voice:

"More intruders. Leave this place the way you came, or face the price of your folly, as have those before you.”

Stunned, everyone stops for a moment and then retreats back to the hallway. Except for the Glow Minion which does not receive instruction to move. A vote is taken on whether to continue on and fight the creature. They decide to go on. Fenris moves down the ladder so he can flank the creature from the other side. The heroes move out on the balcony and prepare to defend themselves. The creature speaks again and threatens all robbers of this tomb. Lakima tells it that they are not tomb robbers. They are chasing the tomb robbers and plan to apprehend them. The creature seems suspicious at first. It extends itself to be within five feet of them and slowly moves down the line of adventurers looking at each of them. At Vervork it tells him it has smelled him before. Vervork tells it that that was an ancestor. It lingers on Lakima telling him it does not trust him. But standing beside Lakima is Domago and the creature says it does trust him. It tells them they can depart without a fight. Then it drops back down into the canal.

Everyone quickly leaves the chamber via the door in the north wall. Fenris is last as he has to make his way across the chamber. He stops and checks the bodies of the hobgoblins and pockets a few items. Then he quickly runs across the bridge and up a stair. The door leads to a chamber with a zig-zag wall pattern. Along the north side of the room are four statues of warriors in front of closed crypts. Fenris checks a few and reports that they have been opened and looted. At the end of the hall, they find some evidence of a camp for several humanoids and a stone door.

The door opens into a wide hallway. At both ends of the hall, a passage enters from the east but both passages are fifteen feet lower. Iron ladders lead down. Fenris and the Glow Minion again take the lead, Lantosh and Eathwund come next. They head down a hallway with a ceiling far above. As it rounds a corner, Fenris sees more than a dozen skeleton warriors waiting for them. One skeleton is clad in heavy plate mail armor. Fenris tries to yell out an alarm but no sounds come from his mouth. The skeletons rush toward him and he is forced to flee toward a hole he sees in a far wall. Bricks have been removed from the wall to create the hole. The rest of the adventurers file into the chamber and are attacked by a horde of skeletons. Aashdoshan sends his skeletons forward to defend them adding to the confusion. Aashdoshan tries to cast a spell but he finds he also cannot make a sound. Eathwund and Alonso push to the front and begin smashing down skeletons. The fight continues in eerie silence. Swords hit swords without making a sound. Alerted to what is happening, Lakima casts Shield on himself before entering the room. 

Fenris is stabbed twice before he is able to hide in a tunnel that goes down at a steep angle. Eathwund and Alonso destroy most of the skeletons. In the confusion, one of Aashdoshan’s skeletons is destroyed by Alonso. Lantosh is hit twice by skeletons. Lakima finds himself surrounded and lashes out with his Staff of Striking exploding skeletons. His shield spell protects him. The armored skeleton stabs Alonso in the back when he is engaged with other skeletons. This apparent leader proves a lot tougher than a normal skeleton. Eathwund and Alonso strike it repeatedly with little effect. Lakima hits it with his Staff as well. In the end, the skeleton leader falls and once that happens, sound returns to the chamber. The remaining four skeletons continue attacking but now everyone can hear the battle. Aashdoshan shouts for everyone to hold as he takes control of the skeletons and then de-animates them shortly after.

A badly wounded Fenris drags himself out of the hole in the wall. He reports that he can hear the sound of splashing water at the bottom of the shaft he was in. The rest of the group looks about and decides to rest a few moments.